BUZZ
Restricts backdoor employment for foreigners
Foreign students will have a tougher time displacing American students from work opportunities following a new Trump administration policy.
The rule stipulates “international students may only complete internships if employers have a partnership with their school, and the practical job training is required for all students, American and international alike, enrolled in their course of study,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
The work is called “curricular practical training” and must be “integral” and and specifically part of a “program of study,” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Some schools, including the University of California Berkeley, have begun responding to the memo.
“The university is pausing its Curricular Practical Training, a pathway administered by Berkeley’s International Office that allows international students to gain hands-on, off-campus work experience,” KTVU 2 reported.
Barnard College has reportedly taken similar steps.
The Columbia Spectator reported:
All pending and new [Curricular Practical Training] approvals are on hold as Barnard reviews and updates its institutional protocols, Joanna Kang, associate director of Barnard’s International Student Services office wrote in the email to the international student. The student shared a portion of the email but declined to share its full text.
University of Washington officials said they are “carefully reviewing our CPT policy in light of these messages” and “consulting the Attorney General’s office as well as UW leadership to assess its implications for our current CPT practices.”
The school said it is pausing all requests while it sorts through the new policy.
The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rochester issued similar messages to their students.
Curricular practical training is similar to Optional Practical Training, which allows student visa holders to work full-time jobs after graduation if they are ostensibly related to their college degree. Congress has never voted to authorize the OPT program.
Participants do not pay Social Security or Medicare taxes. Critics, including the Center for Immigration Studies, have said the Optional Practical Training program operates as a backdoor employment scheme that privileges foreign students and violates the clear intent of the student visa program.
In recent months, the Trump administration has said it plans to assess a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa on foreign students who want to stay here after graduation.
A new visa rule also sets a four-year time limit on student visas, instead of a limitless time period.
